blue is a Systems Research Group

We design, build, and evaluate novel computer systems. We are currently
working on smartphones, today's most pervasive mobile technology. Our
research aims to make smartphones more useful, safer, and more sustainable.
But at blue we put people first. Our primary mission is to
train computer scientists and our primary product is people. We try to align
everything else in service of that goal, which results in putting
people before projects before papers.

Putting people first reflects the fact that as an
academic research group blue's primary purpose is to
train future researchers and developers. Lab members are in school and
are here to learn. When conducting research, our objective is to allow
students the chance to come up with new ideas, develop them into
prototype systems, evaluate them objectively, and then communicate their
results effectively to the broader scientific community. Along the way
they are developing analytical skills and leadership abilities they
benefiting the majority of their career in technology that occurs
after they leave blue.

Putting people before projects means allowing blue group members to choose and lead projects that excite
them and letting projects proceed at a pace that benefits members' personal
development. We utilize our freedom as an academic research lab to identify
novel directions that we are excited about pursuing without the
constraints of a company or industrial research lab. But along the way we
are careful not to miss opportunities to allow blue group
members to learn and grow as they develop their projects—even if
this means development doesn't always happen as fast as possible.

Putting projects before papers allows us to work on
projects that interest us—not just ones that might quickly lead to
a publication—and to publish when ready. While acceptance rates at
many systems conferences are low enough to be discouraging, we believe
that publishing should be a fundamentally happy undertaking. It's our
chance to share what we've found with the world outside our group, and to
celebrate the hard work and growth of blue members. We
also don't work on projects because we need to publish papers—we
work on projects because we love building things and we're curious about
what will happen when we try something new.

Together In the Lab

blue is fortunate to have a single lab large enough to
house all current group members—currently
Davis Hall
Room 301B, also know as the PhoneLab. Inspired by the organization of
groups like the Berkeley
AMP Lab,
as well as the organization of typical startups and technology
companies, all group members—faculty, administrators, graduate students and
undergraduates—work side-by-side in our lab. This arrangement
allows for spontaneous real-time collaboration and problem solving while
also building a sense of camaraderie. Group members are asked to be
present in the lab during certain hours to facilitate interaction. New blue members find it easy to get started since there are
always more experienced developers nearby, and many discussions
that take place in the lab have benefited from being overhead by group
members that were not directly engaged in the project. It also just ends
up being a lot of fun!